random travels and whatever comes to mind from pro snowboarder and 2 time olympian justin lamoureux

Monday, June 21, 2010

laser eyes

i can see! unreal.

I've been wearing glasses for around 20 years. When i first got contacts a few years later, my snowboard ability virtually doubled overnight. I went from not being able to see when riding to great vision overnight. a few weeks ago my vision went from quite good in my contacts to 20/20 overnight!

I had the opportunity to undergo laser eye surgery with Dr leger at lasik MD in vancouver, and 2 weeks later i couldn't be happier with it. and i was about to not do it.

I'm a little squeamish when it comes to my eyes, so i had my reservations about laser surgery. But it was super easy and the staff at Lasik MD were awesome.

For the curious, here's the details on the operation. It's kind of creepy but in a weird way i enjoyed the experience. I started by not wearing your contacts for a week. It's to let your eyes return to their normal shape, but being primarily a contact wearer i think it's so you hate your glasses even more! Show up for the operation, sign some paperwork that ups your anxiety level, and get a few drops in your eyes. Dr leger greeted me upon entering the operation room, chatted for a few minutes and he talked me through the Lasik operation. OK, let's do this!

you lie down on a table, a few head adjustments and they tape up one eye, and place a metal clip on your other to keep it open. Once that is in place, a suction cup is placed on your eye and your vision blacks out. A flap is cut on your eye in 5 seconds and your vision returns. mellow. Don't feel or see a thing.

now this is where it gets interesting. You see a pair of tweezers (or something) come down to your eye and flip the flap up! you vision goes from normal to a really foggy pair of goggles. WHOh! ok, watch the red light, 35-45 seconds and done. a drop on your eye and the flap gets placed back. Done. next eye. When you sit up, you can see. But it's a little foggy.

I think the operation took less than 5 minutes!

Afterwards, you chill on site for little bit then have a check up and you're free to go home before heading back the following day for another check up.

They tell you not to read, or watch tv or anything the day of the surgery and i'm not sure how i could have. My eyes just wanted to remain shut. I had a hard time just opening my eyes enough to apply the drops i needed to. So i napped all day, and listened to a movie, then went to bed.

Then the coolest thing in the world, you wake up being able to see. It's unreal. I went back to Lasik Md for my post-op check that morning and was able to see at 20/20. A week of being really mellow later, i was even better at 20/15! crazy.

I'm still marveling at the surreal-ness of the whole thing. Just being able to see little things that i couldn't before is awesome. Like stars outside my window when i go to sleep. I'm just starting to get back into normal sporting life and i'm loving it. No shifting contacts, no dry contacts, no vision problems. awesome

thanks to Lasik Md and dr leger for the vision. can't wait to snowboard in a few weeks.jl